Athletes Services provides all the support to make the athletes’ and team officials’ time at the All England as easy and as comfortable as possible.
In recent years, the Sport & Leisure Centre has become much more than 7 or 8 practice courts. Yes, of course, practice is the key service but there is also a gym area, stringing service, space for team physios to work, prayer areas and a café/relaxation area supplied with food and drink and access to TVs and Score Boards to keep up to date with all the action going on upstairs. The action upstairs can sometimes feel a world away from our own contained world which provides the teams with much needed privacy to train and prepare/warm down and relax away from the fans.
As with other areas, work begins some time before the spectators are taking their seats in the Arena Bowl. Before even heading to Birmingham, the practice sessions for the first few days when the teams arrive are scheduled. Courts are available usually 2 – 3 days before the event actually starts. Once the event starts teams submit their requests on a daily basis for the following day. Teams can submit their requests for the number of courts they require and their preferred time & we try and match as best we can the request to the availability. However, we often end up with requests that add up to 17 courts required for 10am – 12 noon when in reality there are only 7! Thus, we have to divvy up the allocation ensuring that it is fair across the week. On the whole teams are very supportive and accept they will not always get their first choice slot. The day before the event starts, teams get access for a short hit in the main arena to familiarise themselves with the courts and lighting etc which also has to be scheduled pre event. Times allocated depend on the number of players in the main draw with everyone getting the same opportunity. Athletes’ Services volunteers ensure that the changeovers go smoothly and the courts are tidy and mopped and teams have their shuttle allocation.
Athletes’ Services volunteers are also responsible for ensuring that the gym is running smoothly and kept tidy as well as manning the café and keeping it stocked with the popular items. Bananas disappear at an incredible rate and other fruit is popular as may be expected but perhaps more surprising is the rate at which pot noodles disappear. We are also the key information centre for the teams, helping with and distributing information about the tournament, messages from the referee and tournament officials and answering wide ranging questions about the event and Birmingham. On one occasion we were asked to source kit for an entire team within 24 hours and there have been some even more bizarre & unpublishable requests!
On arrival at the event, teams collect their accreditation from the Athletes’ Services desk. We ensure that all the players have their accreditation and that team officials are correctly tagged and charged where appropriate. It is amazing how many team officials change between applying for the event and arriving at the venue and so there is usually a large number of new passes to be made or exchanged.
With the athlete's area being some distance from the main hall, we have to liaise with the entrance tunnel (to event courts) team to ensure that players are moving from the practice courts to the warm up courts behind the main arena in good time for their match – allowing for the time it takes the lift to make its way to the dungeon that is the sport & leisure centre. You can constantly hear radio traffic demanding the whereabouts of players & also asking what coloured kit they are wearing as opponents need to be in different colours.
As the players for the last of the Finals depart the area on Sunday it isn’t quite the end for the Athletes’ Services Team as some teams are still practicing ahead of their departure to the next tournament & the finalists are still wanting to warm down & debrief after the event. But soon the Field of Play team arrive to break down the area and Athletes Services can clear the area of people and leave the deriggers to it.
Lesley Owens, Athlete Services Team Leader
